Metallic beverage containers offer distributors and consumers many benefits. The metallic body of a beverage container provides optimal protection properties for products. For example, the metallic body prevents CO2 migration and transmission of UV radiation which may damage beverages, negatively influencing the flavor, appearance, or color of the product. Metallic beverage containers also offer an impermeable barrier to light, water vapor, oils and fats, oxygen, and micro-organisms and keep the contents of the container fresh and protected from external influences, thereby guaranteeing a long shelf-life. The surfaces of metallic containers are also ideal for decorating with brand names, logos, designs, product information, and/or other preferred indicia for identifying, marketing, and distinguishing the metallic container and its contents from other products and competitors. Thus, metallic containers offer bottlers, distributors, and retailers an ability to stand out at the point of sale.
The increased durability of metallic beverage containers compared to glass containers reduces the number of containers damaged during processing and shipping, resulting in further savings. Additionally, metallic beverage containers are lighter than glass containers of comparable size, resulting in energy savings during shipment. Further, metallic beverage containers can be manufactured with high burst pressures which make them ideal and safe for use as containers holding products under pressure, such as containers for carbonated beverages and aerosol products.
Additionally, many consumers prefer metallic containers compared to containers made of glass or plastic. Metallic containers are particularly attractive to consumers because of their convenience. The light weight of metallic containers makes them easier to carry than glass containers. Metallic containers are particularly suitable for use in public places and outdoors because they are more durable than glass containers. Further, some consumers avoid plastic containers due to concerns that the plastic may leach chemicals into consumable products.
As a result of these benefits, sales of metallic containers were valued at approximately $53 billion globally in 2014. A large percentage of the metallic container market is driven by beverage containers. According to one report, approximately 290 billion metallic beverage containers were shipped globally in 2012. One U.S. trade group reported that 126 billion metallic containers were shipped in the U.S. alone in 2014. To meet this demand, metallic container manufacturing facilities operate some of the fastest, if not the fastest, production lines in the container industry. Because of the high speeds of container production lines, techniques or processes that may work in other industries or with containers formed of other materials do not necessarily work at the high speeds required for metallic container production lines. Accordingly, specialized equipment and techniques are often required for many of the operations used to form and decorate metallic containers.
Metallic containers are frequently decorated with an image or indicia, such as a brand name, logo, product information, or design, by a contact printing method, such as a lithographic or off-set printing process. Contact printing methods and apparatus are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,766,851, 3,960,073; 4,384,518; 6,550,389; 6,899,998; U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2012/0272846; U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2014/0360394; U.S. Patent App. No. 2015/0183211; U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2015/0217559; WIPO Publication No. WO 2013/113616; WIPO Publication No. WO 2014/006517; WIPO Publication No. WO 2014/008544; WIPO Publication No. WO 2014/108489; and WIPO Publication No. WO 2014/128200 which are each incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
Alternatively, metallic containers may be decorated by a non-contact printing process. A variety of non-contact printing processes are generally described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,018,640, 6,769,357, 6,920,822, and 7,373,878 which are each incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
One non-contact printing process is known as “Direct to Can” printing in which a print head applies ink directly to a container. One example of this technology is generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,327,493, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. Some direct to can printing systems include inkjet print units. Inkjet printing processes have been difficult to provide at high speed and while maintaining print quality without distortion. This is because increasing the resolution of decorations formed with the prior art direct to can printing units generally decreases the rate at which metallic containers can be decorated. For example, some prior art direct to can printing units can decorate about 200 metallic containers per minute with an image resolution of 180 dpi. However, decorations with a resolution of only 180 dpi are not considered high-definition and are not of the high quality sought by consumers and advertisers. Other known direct to can printing units can decorate approximately 90 metallic containers per minute at a resolution of 700 dpi. This rate is too slow for beverage container manufacturing lines in which production equipment, including decorators, typically must operate at 500-3,000 metallic containers per minute. More preferably, decorators may be required to operate at production speeds of at least one thousand, and even more preferably, several thousand cylindrical metallic containers per minute.
Due to the limitations associated with existing methods and apparatus used to decorate metallic containers, there is an unmet need for an apparatus and method of decorating metallic containers at high speeds without sacrificing production efficiency or image quality in a high speed beverage container production system.